


Much More Than Time

by MisterOctober



Series: Time Transcendent [1]
Category: InuYasha - A Feudal Fairy Tale
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, BAMF Higurashi Kagome, BAMF Sesshoumaru (InuYasha), Canonical Character Death, F/M, First Kiss, Jealousy, Pre-Relationship, Slow Burn, Training, Unhealthy Relationships
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-07
Updated: 2020-07-12
Packaged: 2021-03-02 17:14:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 12,350
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24060427
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MisterOctober/pseuds/MisterOctober
Summary: Kagome Higurashi is no damsel in distress, and she's dead set on proving that she can thrive in the feudal world she's been thrust into. In her quest she enlists some rather unconventional help, and she finds more of herself than she knows what do with.More than anything she wants be remembered as the girl who overcame much more than time.
Relationships: Higurashi Kagome/Sesshoumaru
Series: Time Transcendent [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1740217
Comments: 17
Kudos: 77





	1. The Lost Girl

Kagome Higurashi was no damsel in distress, and she took a lot of pride in that fact.

She was the eldest child in her family, and possessed a lot of the characteristics typical of her position; she was a strong-willed, and reliable girl with a good head on her shoulders, and she made sure that everyone knew it.

A lot of her personality could be credited to the usual tear-jerking troubled childhood: Her father had died when she was seven, leaving his wife heavily pregnant with their son, strapped for cash, and with her father’s shrine in Tokyo as her only refuge.

Luckily for Kagome, Satsuki Higurashi was a pragmatic woman, who had painstakingly carved out a life for herself and her two children. To help with money she worked odd jobs in the neighbourhood, and took over the duty of caring for the shrine from Kagome's ailing grandfather, heedless of the condescension that followed her.

Seeing her mother’s efforts, practical little Kagome had then and there vowed to herself that she would never burden anyone.

Eight years later, she'd broken her unofficial oath. Since arriving in feudal era Japan, she had only ever been a liability to the people that she cared about. Naturally she had issues adjusting, and her fair share of insecurities to deal with. She was flung into life-threatening situations on a daily basis, not to mention she had no idea how she'd arrived in the past in the first place.

If she died in the feudal era, would her family know? Could the Bone-eater's Well simply stop working? Would she be trapped there forever if that happened?

Taking in account her misgivings, it was plain to see, at least to her, that she was the weak link in the admittedly very badass chain that consisted of herself and her feudal-era friends.

Kagome understood and accepted that she had been born in an era where expectations of her were drastically different. She had never had any need to learn self-defence, and easily admitted that her only exposure to violence was through the television and what she had faced since falling through the Bone-eater's Well, to a Japan eight-hundred years in the past.

Kagome didn't hold on to any illusions with regards to her role in their little rag-tag group, but it still stung that she seemed to be the relegated non-combatant by the others. She was reduced simply to how useful she could be. Her primary purpose was as a treasure map to the shards of the Shikon no Tama, and while that was all well and good, there was always a little voice in her head that said that the others only protected her because she was an asset to their quest.

Had she not had the power to sense the jewel, she thought that Inuyasha would have had no qualms about leaving her behind.

So call her crazy, she wanted to mean more to the boy she loved than just being a glorified metal detector, but she knew she had little to offer when the rest of the party was so much more well-versed in their setting: Inuyasha was combat savvy and free with his temper and his sword, Miroku carried his cursed wind tunnel, Sango had her _Hiraikotsu_ , and even little Shippo had his fox fire – but Kagome? Kagome wasn’t made to fight, she was there to offer platitudes, and when she was particularly unlucky, desperate cries for help when she was captured.

She perpetually battled, the nagging in the back of her mind that made her seem like she was missing something - despite the months she had spent with Inuyasha, she wasn't sure that this place- no this time, could every really be her home. After all, the clue was in the name; the _feudal_ era was in no way misadvertised.

So when the opportunity arose, on a clear autumn night while the others set up camp, she seized it and called to the others that she would set off into the surrounding forest to find a tree for target practice.

“Good luck!”, Sango looked up and smiled, then resumed her brushing of Kirara’s fur, as the little feline chirped happily.

Inuyasha opened his mouth to make a snide comment, but was silenced when Miroku slapped a palm over his mouth, glibly.

The monk gave a guileless smile, “Be back in time to make us dinner, Kagome! I’m excited to taste your more of your strange future foods.” 

Kagome nodded. She couldn’t be bothered to re-explain the logistics of making instant ramen with him. It would only eat into the time that she could spend practicing, so instead she grimaced determinedly, and slung her bow and quiver over her shoulder.

* * *

An hour or so later, Kagome was ready to call it quits. She was tired, sweaty, and ready to go back to the others to wallow with her bruised pride. Most of her arrows hadn’t hit their mark, and the ones that had, weren’t embedded in the trunk as she had hoped, but simply fell to the ground upon contact. The contents of her quiver littered the forest floor or were lost in the darkness that was creeping through the gas between the tree-trunks. If anything, her aim seemed to have gotten worse during the course of her practice.

She sighed and let her knees give out, wiping the sweat off of her brow, so that it instead dampened the sleeve of her school uniform. She let her thoughts stray to her family, musing over how they were doing in the modern-day Japan that she had left behind.

In the recesses of her memory, she thought distractedly that Sota had a baseball match coming up soon, and she badly wanted to be there to support her little brother. She had missed his birthday last month, and the guilt she felt signalled to her that she had to make it up to him. It was the first year that he’d made it onto the middle school team, and he was ridiculously proud.

She was broken out of her reverie minutes later, when one of the bushes behind her rustled. Willing to give the occurrence the benefit of the doubt, Kagome stood up and began picking up the arrows that she had lost.

The bushes rustled again.

Kagome tensed in alarm, reaching for her bow and holding it with an arrow notched in a trembling hand in front of her; she took a step back, bracing herself for what she was sure would be an oncoming attack. Given her lack of progress and the fatigue that was sweeping over her limbs she wasn’t sure that she would be much good in a fight at the moment.

She debated calling out for help, but she had strayed away from the campsite, and she didn’t want to signal her position to any other attackers, assuming that there was more than one.

Kagome had thought that she would be safe in the glade she had found, and so hadn’t bothered to check the surrounding area for lesser demons, or to search for nearby pieces of the _Shikon no Tama_. The cool dusk air, and the quiet buzz of fireflies wings had lulled her into a false sense of security, and she hadn’t paid much mind to how low the sun hung in the sky, or how the quiet chirp of Cicadas had amplified as the world darkened.

A cool breeze whistled through the grass, and Kagome shivered but didn’t waver in her stance. Soon enough the the undergrowth quivered again and a startled rabbit burst out of the undergrowth. Kagome yelped, but when it disappeared on the far side of the glade she gave a sigh of relief and lowered her weapon. She had only just put the arrow back in her quiver when the bushes gave another sudden tremble and a little girl in an orange kimono tumbled out. 

Kagome started, and then relaxed if only marginally, taking in the sight of her would-be attacker. The girl was all of four feet tall, and very slim. Her skin was pale and sallow, and caked in dirt.

Kagome smiled; the girl’s ruddy apple shaped face was endearing. She couldn’t have been older than Sota, and she seemed harmless enough. Still Kagome was hesitant to get much closer.

She changed her mind when she noticed the lost expression on the girl's face, and the large brown eyes framed with impending tears- the face around them melted away and without meaning to Kagome was staring into the face of another round-cheeked child: a little boy who looked up at her as if she held all the answers to everything.

A warmth appeared in her chest. This little girl could be someone's little sister too, and if Souta was ever in a similar position, she hoped that whoever found him lost and alone in the woods, would be kind enough to take care of him.

Throwing caution to the wind, Kagome cautiously approached the girl, who gazed up at her warily under thick lashes, and matted black hair that fell over her brow.

“Hi, there! Are you lost?”

The little girl stared at Kagome with wild frightened eyes at the sound of her voice, and didn’t open her mouth to answer. Instead she seemed to shrink into herself, curling up and hugging her knees to her chest fearfully, as if hoping that Kagome’s gaze would pass over her entirely if she made herself inconspicuous enough.

Immediately, Kagome felt sorry. She dropped into a crouch and tried to make eye contact with the girl, holding her palms up to show that she wasn’t armed.

“It’s okay. I won’t hurt you. I just want to help you find your parents.”

The girl didn’t look up at the sound of Kagome’s soothing tone instead tucking her face further into the crook of her elbow and trembling. Still, she unconsciously inclined her body slightly towards the older girl to show that she was listening.

“Will you let me help you? My friends are nearby and I’m sure they’d love to get you back home safe and sound.”

The girl recoiled in fear, and made as if to scramble back into the bushes and Kagome quickly backtracked, “Okay nevermind that! No other people, okay? I promise. I won’t force you to come and meet them.”

Seeing the little girl’s distrustful stare, she added, “My name’s Kagome. I’m not from around here. I think you could tell, but I could help you get to the nearest village, and we can get you some help from there.”

The younger girl shook her head hesitantly, and ad lifted her gaze to meet Kagome’s, but did not uncurl herself. Kagome waited patiently as the seconds ticked by, wanting to give the little girl some time to calm down.

“Rin”, Kagome was pulled out of her thoughts.

“I’m sorry?” she cocked her head to the side.

“My name. It’s Rin.”

Kagome beamed, “It’s nice to meet you, Rin.”

Now that the girl was a little calmer she edged slightly closer to the frail body.

Rin smiled back shyly, and her features rearranged themselves into the carefree expression of a child, as opposed to the haunted look of a cornered wild animal. The difference was palpable as she dropped her shoulders and jolted herself upright to stand on her bare, scratch-covered feet.

She stepped daintily towards Kagome, and stared at her face, tilting her head to the side like a puppy. Self-conscious and somewhat taken aback by the change in the girl’s disposition and the appraising eye that was on her, Kagome shifted from foot to foot, raising a hand to scratch awkwardly at the back of her neck.

“You’re pretty!” said Rin.

Kagome spluttered and choked slightly, “Uh...Thank you?" but the girls attention had already slipped away from her and instead settled on something or someone behind her right shoulder. Rin grinned wider.

Stiffening, Kagome spun around to face the intruder only to be met with an annoyed amber glare and a the graceful flow of long white strands of hair in the wind.

Sesshomaru, stepped gracefully out of the shadows at the edge of the glade and into full view. Inuyasha’s older half-brother stood with his arms crossed in front of his chest, looking unimpressed as ever. The fur he wore dragged across the grass behind him and Kagome absently wondered how he kept it so clean when it made contact with the mud and leaves on the ground.

She instinctively cowered away from his intimidating form, dragging her eyes along the razor sharp claws that he wielded on his remaining right hand, and down to the two swords that were sheathed and belted at his hip.

Before he could be stopped, and heedless of any danger posed to her, Rin immediately sprung forwards and seized the dog yokai's sleeve in her tiny hand . Sesshomaru stared down at the top of her head, and his eyes appeared to soften slightly, losing some of their intensity and melting instead into a warm honey-like gaze.

“Rin. This Sesshomaru told you to stay with A-Un. Why did you run off?”

When he spoke his voice was as clear and apathetic as ever, but Kagome was sure that she wasn’t imagining a note of warmth in his intonation.

“Sorry, Sesshomaru-sama! I didn’t mean to worry you. I was hungry, so I went to find myself some food, and then I saw a rabbit, and I wanted to play with him, but he ran away because Jaken-sama wanted to eat him, and I followed him because I wanted to be friends, and I even named him Usagi-san, but I couldn’t catch him because he was so fast, and then he ran into the bushes and I thought I could trap him and keep him so that he could be my pet, just like A-Un is your pet, but he escaped and I fell over and then this kind lady found me. She says her name is Kagome and she’s really pretty!”, Rin gabbled without pausing for a breath.

Kagome blinked, and even Sesshomaru seemed to have a hard time processing what Rin was saying. But then he shook his head and his apathetic expression clouded is fine features once more.

“Even still, that is no excuse to run off into the woods. If you do it again this Sesshomaru will leave you behind.”

Kagome wasn’t sure why, but from the way he hesitated slightly when he said so, and looked away from Rin, she could tell he was lying. Then Sesshomaru looked up again, and this time his gaze fell onto her. She flinched slightly, and considered calling out to Inuyasha, but her instincts told her that it wouldn’t be wise, and she didn’t want to terrify Rin, as any ensuing fights would be sure to do, so she held her tongue, as the dog-demon eyed her calculatingly.

It seemed that they were of the same mind as Sesshomaru murmured to Rin.

“Rin. Go back to A-Un and tell Jaken to ready himself. We will leave this forest shortly.” He kept his eyes on her while talking to the kimono-clad girl, and Kagome shivered worriedly.

Rin nodded and skipped off further in the forest, then stopped and turned back briefly.

“Bye Kagome-san! It was nice meeting you!”, she said and waved at Kagome before disappearing entirely into the forest.

Now that the full weight of his attention was on her, Kagome didn’t know what to do. She could call the others. She knew that Inuyasha would jump at the chance to have it out with his older brother, but she didn’t relish the chance to be the damsel in distress yet again.

If she was fast she might have time to get an arrow or two out, but there was no guarantee that they would hit him, and even if they did, knowing Sesshomaru, the arrows wouldn’t do any harm. They’d probably bounce off his armour, and make him angry, and then there was really no accounting for what he would do to her.

She pondered briefly over the nature of Rin’s relationship with the demon. There was no way, Sesshomaru had an illegitimate child. She had trouble picturing him being intimate with anyone, and after all the crap he gave Inuyasha about her circumstance, she doubted the demon would stoop so low. Rin seemed human enough too - which meant that they weren't related.

Floundering slightly, she considered the demon’s uncharacteristic softness in dealing with the little girl. Would Rin be upset if she tried to fight him him? Probably, judging by the way she'd looked to him when he had appeared in the glade.

Sesshomaru didn’t seem to have any particular quarrel with her aside from the fact that she was a human who his brother associated with. But Rin was human too, and Sesshomaru hadn’t seemed disgusted. If anything he’d seemed quite fond of her. Where did that leave Sesshomaru? He’d expressed no interest in the Shikon no Tama, and so he would have no use for her if he captured her – unless it was to lord it over his brother.

“Miko.”

The sound of his voice snapped Kagome out of her frantic thinking. She opened her mouth to shout for Inuyasha’s help and-

“Thank you.”

Kagome’s thoughts sputtered to a halt, and without thinking she raised her head and met the demon’s eyes. They were narrowed appraisingly, and she could tell that he too was deep in thought. Strangely, he didn’t seem to be angry.

“You found and helped my ward when she was in trouble. This Sesshomaru is grateful to you. As a reward, I shall spare your life. You may return to my half-breed brother, on the condition that you do not tell him that I was here.”

By the time he finished speaking, Kagome was sure that she had raised her eyebrows so far in surprise that they had disappeared into her hairline.

Immobilised by bewilderment, she nodded her assent without stopping to think.

Sesshomaru relaxed and looked slightly pleased, before his eyes narrowed and hardened once again.

“Be warned, Miko, this is the only time that this Sesshomaru will be so merciful. If I find you again, I will kill you.”

Kagome blinked at his sudden aggressiveness, and then he was gone. The only sign that he’d been there at all were the leaves that he’d stirred up in his departure falling to the ground once more.

* * *

Making her way back to the camp-site in the swiftly encroaching darkness, Kagome’s thoughts were buzzing.

Sesshomaru and Inuyasha were bitter enemies and she’d never really stopped to think about it in great detail. From what she knew of the half-demon Inuyasha hated Sesshomaru because of his opinions on humans.

She was aware that Inuyasha’s mother had been a human, and that Sesshomaru had hated her, and resented her relationship with his father Inutaisho, but she hadn’t ever considered how his hatred had evolved to include Inuyasha, aside from his prejudice towards his younger brother’s half-blood status.

Kagome sucked on her bottom lip, as she trekked back. She was so wrapped up in her musings that she didn’t notice Sango until she walked into her friend.

She stumbled back, and Sango quickly reached out to grab her forearm, helping her balance. The assassin grinned.

“What were you thinking of, Kagome? You seemed pretty out of it.”

“What? Oh! I-nothing. I guess I just tired myself out today.”

“You must have done! You were gone for ages. We were about to go looking for you. Inuyasha was panicking.” Sango smiled and tossed the hair from her fringe out of her eyes.

Kagome looked dubiously over at their half-demon teammate, who was reclining on his side and picking at the skin between his toes.

“If you say so”, she muttered.

“Kagome! You’re back! Thank the gods! I was sure you’d had it with Inuyasha, and left us to deal with him.”, Miroku exclaimed casting an irritated glance over his shoulder at Inuyasha who huffed and rolled over so his back was to them.

“Kagome, can you make us dinner? I’m starving”, Shippo interjected tugging tearfully at the hem of her skirt.

He had a suspiciously large lump on the back of his head, which she suspected Inuyasha likely had something to do with.

Kagome smiled, “Of course, Shippo. I’ll get right on that.”

The rest of her evening was spent in the chatting and playful atmosphere that dinner time usually brought over the group, and Kagome put the strange events of the day in the back of her mind.

* * *

It was a couple of weeks before Kagome saw Sesshomaru again, but in that time, she couldn’t help but replay the strange events of their last meeting in her head – to the extent that even the usually oblivious Inuyasha had begun to cast her suspicious glances.

Their next meeting had an entirely different tone from the previous one. For one, it wasn’t an accident, and for another it was in battle. With one another- although to be fair it was battle by proxy, with the younger of the white haired brothers fighting on behalf of Totosai, while the elderly sword-maker watched with wide eyes.

Sango and Miroku similarly stood a ways away from the fight, their respective survival instincts telling them it was prudent to avoid getting in between the two furious dog-demons.

Kagome stood next to them, wary, but at the same time she couldn’t help admiring the fluid movements of both men. Their speed and agility was dumbfounding, and she couldn’t help but feel a little awestruck, gazing at their back and forth dance.

The two brothers circled each other, sporting matching grimaces as the tempo of their fight increased .

Inuyasha leapt forward, charging Sesshomaru, and letting loose his Blades of Blood. Sesshomaru recoiled and darted to the side to evade the errant blades.

In retaliation, Sesshomaru dashed forwards without hesitation. With a flick of his wrist So’unga was unsheathed and being driven towards the vulnerable skin of Inuyasha’s throat.

Before it could break his skin, Inuyasha whipped up Tessaiga, and Sesshomaru’s blade glanced off of it. Moving with the momentum, Sesshomaru dove past his brother spinning and easily dodged the Wind Scar that Inuyasha threw his way.

As the brothers continued, Sango crept towards her.

“They’re pretty good, huh?”, she remarked.

“Yeah.” Kagome answered distractedly watching as Inuyasha created a chasm in the earth with his Wind Scar.

Sango smiled knowingly, watching the younger girl’s face.

“Kagome?”

The high-school student turned her attention onto her friend.

“Yeah?”

“What happened between you and Inuyasha that day?”, Sango probed gently.

Kagome’s attention snapped over to the assassin. “What day?”, she asked her expression becoming blank.

Sango sighed, “Kagome, you don’t have to tell me, but I hope you know that we’re a team here.”

She paused.

“No- more than that!”, she amended, “We’re a family, and we want to be there for you. So if you ever want to talk about it…you know where to find me.”

She backed away.

Kagome nodded appreciatively, thinking back to the events of last month. Seeing Inuyasha kiss Kikyou had been a wake-up call of sorts for her.

In retrospect, she should have realised that Inuyasha’s impulsive personality meant it would be difficult for him, waking up one hundred years later to realise that the woman that he had fallen in love with was dead.

Kagome wasn’t afraid to say that she was a romantic, and with all the time she spent with the caustic Inuyasha and the growing strength of their bond, she had eventually become attracted to him. The more he opened up to her, the more she hoped for their relationship to evolve into something else, so her sudden introduction to the softer side of Inuyasha’s personality, had completely thrown her.

On a logical level she knew he was far, far older than her, and she didn’t know him all that well, but at the same time she was hurt and slightly envious to see that the only person with such insight into Inuyasha was Kikyou.

Her status as Kikyou’s supposed reincarnation, only confused her more. Maybe Inuyasha’s feelings towards her were just remnants of his affection for Kikyou. Kagome was afraid she would never know exactly how much what he liked was her, and how much of it was because he only considered her an extension of the late priestess.

What had truly thrown her for the loop, was how betrayed she felt. She tried to rationalise it, but her resentment and jealousy festered, and she became bitter and snappish. That was what had led her to return to her family.

Kagome was a kind girl with a good heart; she made friends easily, and was loved for it. Her hatred and anger horrified her, and she knew that if she continued to feel the same way she would be no better than the shade that Kikyou had become. She wanted nothing more than to hurt Inuyasha, as badly as he had hurt her, and she was disgusted with her selfishness and pettiness because of it. In the aftermath of her little misadventure, she had done something entirely uncharacteristic: she turned tail and fled.

In the weeks that followed she devoted her time to school, and her friends and family. She settled herself into domesticity, and the life of a normal teenage girl. The life that she should have had. At the same time as it was rewarding, her guilt ate her to the extent that she thought often of going back if only to see Sango, Miroku and Shippo again.

Talking with her mother had changed that. It had been as if a burden was lifted from her, and she was quickly able to differentiate between love and the possessiveness she had felt. Of course it didn’t mean that she had stopped loving the her half-demon companion, but she at least felt secure in the knowledge that she could keep fighting for his affection, without compromising her values.

It just so happened that her fighting spirit presented itself in the form of making herself useful. It was true that Kagome loved being domestic. She loved having a home and a family. And although there was no physical structure to ground her in the feudal era, the friends that she had acquired in her adventures more than fulfilled her. She cooked for them, bringing back the modern staple foods that she was accustomed to for Miroku and Shippo to gorge themselves on, and bonded with Sango over how different things were for women in the modern era, and the friendly chatter that girls her age usually engaged in, teasing her friend about the assassin’s violent reactions to Miroku’s constant advances, and her relationship with her younger brother. She fit in well. The only thing she couldn’t do with them was fight.

So perhaps it was a misguided sense of rivalry with Inuyasha’s old lover, or maybe it was her love for her friends that led her to her current predicament, watching the two demon brothers duel ferociously a few yards away.

She knew that Inuyasha would be furious, but even still, she couldn’t help feel sympathy for Sesshomaru.

Having seen how he acted around Rin and seeing the complex feeling he had for his father had humanized him in a way that she wasn’t entirely comfortable with.

Inuyasha had always made him out to just be a malicious person, and Kagome had always thought of him abstractedly as she would any other villain – at this point they just became a part of the furniture. However, she was coming to realise that his motivations were a lot more complicated than he let on, or than she saw.

His flawless handling of So’unga, and the ease with which he moved, spoke of years and years of practice, and ferocious dedication that she could never hope to match during her measly mortal lifespan.

His motions only brought more questions to mind about who he was and where he had learnt to fight like he had. The concentration he had, was something that was often borne of desperation or urgency. Kagome could tell that the older dog-demon had suffered through a lot.

She was proven right about his experience when he quickly swiftly disarmed Inuyasha, and made to move forwards. Kagome jumped to the ready with an arrow notched in her bow and a frown on her face.

This however, seemed to have the opposite effect than she had wanted. Sesshomaru merely raised his eyebrow, unimpressed.

“Little Miko, If you really think you’d do any harm to me, after what I saw in the woods, then maybe the world would have been better off if I’d simply killed you that day.”

Kagome deflated a little at his words, and tried to come up with something rude to say to him, which gave Sango just enough time to chuck her Hiraikostu at him distracting him from Kagome, and for Inuyasha to save the day.

The words rattled around in her head, and she couldn’t help but alarmed. He seemed to imply that he'd been watching even before her surprise encounter with Rin. She spent the rest of the day feeling a confused.

She was even moreso, when later on in the evening, she was approached by Totosai. The blacksmith smiled gently at her, and crouched down near to where she was sat.

He looked at her out of the corner of his eye, as he talked.

“He wasn’t always like this you know. Sesshomaru, I mean. The first time I met him he was young. He came to me with his father, the day that the Tessaiga was made.”

Kagome listened with interest.

“He was such an eager young pup. He asked me so many questions. Though he may not know otherwise now, I saw how deeply Toga-sama loved him, and how proud he was of him.”

“So, what happened?”

Totosai shrugged.

“Toga died.”

Seeing the crestfallen look on her face, he smiled again reassuringly. The cloudy lenses of his near-blind eyes shone under the moonlight, making him appear eerie and almost omniscient.

The effect was negated by the weathered clay-coloured skin on his face creating lines, when he moved, and the thinning silver hair receding over his scalp.

Kagome stayed looking at the night sky for a while after he retired for the night, thinking over what she had learned.

* * *

Their next meeting, three days after the battle, was exceptionally weird. Even for Kagome. At this point encountering Sesshomaru was beginning to lose its shock-factor. The surly demon seemed equally disenchanted with her appearance, when she literally ran into him in the forest during her search for a river to bathe in .

What stopped her in her tracks wasn’t the scowling dog-demon’s surprisingly mud-covered appearance – honestly what did he think would come of wearing that much white? – but the absurd looking creature that was frantically thrashing around behind him.

It looked a bit like a horse, but also a lizard, only…it had two heads.

It was scaly and green, with a wild mane, and bulbous yellow eyes, that rolled alarmedly. The creature had four legs, that ended in bird-like feet with wicked talons, and a massive swinging lizard tail, that bowled over the trees behind it. Its shoulder was several heads taller than her, and at full height it towered over her menacingly.

Had she mentioned it had two heads?

Rin and the little gremlin creature called Jaken stood a little ways away, tucked in the relative safety of the low- hanging branches of a large tree.

Jaken screeched at the sight of her, whipping out his two headed staff, and waddling towards her as fast as he could, and Kagome took a step back, ready for a fight-

Right into Sesshomaru’s willowy figure. Two sets of wickedly sharp claws dug into her shoulder as she struggled for balance, and righted her before being snatched away as if she had some kind of contagious disease. Kagome traced their path as they were raised to rake through the demon’s uncharacteristically dishevelled hair.

“Jaken, shut up and stay with Rin.”, Sesshomaru grumbled, his eyes pointed downwards in distaste at the sight of the soiled hem of his kimono.

He looked up and eyed Kagome frustratedly, as Jaken scurried back to the relative safety of the tree and away from his master’s ire. Seeing Kagome, Rin’s eyes lit up, and she beamed, waving so furiously that she knocked Jaken to the ground, and almost fell off of her branch.

Kagome laughed and waved back, acutely conscious of Sesshomaru’s eyes on the back of her neck.

“Miko, now is not the time. Run back to my brother before This Sesshomaru smites you.”, Sesshomaru sniffed aloof.

Kagome glared at him out of her peripherals, miffed at his dismissive tone. Then, she focused on the animal in front of her.

Inspecting it more closely, she still couldn’t see why it was so agitated.

“How long has it been like this?”, she directed her questions towards Rin, obliquely ignoring the affronted look on Sesshomaru’s face.

Sesshomaru stiffened and furrowed his brows, offended that she hadn’t asked him, at the same time his remaining hand grazed the hilt of So’unga, as though he were readying himself to attack her if she hurt the little girl.

“He’s been like this since this morning, Kagome-nee! I went to pick some berries to cook for breakfast, and I took A-Un with me. I turned around, and he was like this. I asked Jaken-sama, but he didn’t know what was wrong.”

The green-skinned demon gave Rin the stink-eye, muttering under his breath “We should just leave the stupid beast behind. If is truly as loyal to Sesshomaru-sama, as I am he’ll stop this foolishness right now.”

Rin stared at him appalled, “We wouldn’t leave A-Un behind! He’s our family!”

Kagome turned leaving them to squabble between themselves. Cautiously, she edged closer to the Lizard-Horse-Hydra-Demon-Thing. Something about the agitated creature’s countenance reminded her of Buyo when Souta squeezed him too hard or pulled on his tail.

A thought occurred to her.

She turned to the white-haired youkai, “Does he eat plants?”

Sesshomaru nodded, not taking his eyes off her, and keeping his arms crossed haughtily over his chest.

Kagome continued to approach A-Un until she was within touching distance. The creature reared back, and she managed to grab his bridle, gently guiding his heads downwards and slipping off his muzzles. She kept a hand on his wither the whole time, stroking it calmingly so that the beast was soothed.

“Hi there,” she said looking directly into the two sets of lantern-like eyes, “Would you mind opening your mouths for me?” she enunciated clearly, feeling a little foolish for talking to the creature.

For an agonisingly long moment, A-Un just watched as her cheeks heated up and Sesshomaru’s travelling party looked on with interest, and in Jaken’s case derision.

Then, slowly ever so slowly, the beast opened both his mouths, until his maw hung open. Kagome leaned forward, trying not to be intimidated by the way his jaws dwarfed her, and holding her breath against the onslaught of halitosis. She narrowed her eyes, and peered closely at A-Un until she found what she was looking for. Then ever so slowly she began to extract the thorns that were embedded in the roofs of his mouths.

To his credit, A-Un stayed very still throughout the whole process – the only sign of pain he showed was the violent swishing of his tail.

After ten minutes or so, Kagome was sure that she had gotten all of the thorns, and had a palmful of tiny spikes to show for her work. Stepping away from A-Un, she was very quickly approached by Rin who stood on her toes to look curiously at the thorns that Kagome had extracted.

“Wow! Kagome-nee! You’re so clever! How did you know that they were there?”

Kagome shrugged abashed.

“I just guessed. I mean you said you went to get berries, right? I figured that you got them from a blackthorn bush, because you said that you were going to cook them, and blackthorn berries taste better when they’re cooked. Then I remembered that the plants have thorns. You could have guessed from the name though, huh?”

For the duration of her explanation, Kagome could feel Sesshomaru’s gaze on her. When she looked up and made eye contact with him, she thought he almost looked appraising. Something flickered in his eyes, and it took her a few moments to realise that he was impressed.

When he noticed her looking, he quickly looked away, raising his chin and clearing his throat, uneasily.

“In any case, Miko, you have my thanks. I am in your debt.”

Jaken jumped to his feet outraged, “Lord Sesshomaru! If anything she is in your debt! Being in your glorious presence is reparation enough.”

Sesshomaru raised an eyebrow, clearly unimpressed with the demon’s brown-nosing.

Kagome however, noticing the demon’s uneasiness opted to make light of the situation as much as she could get away with, wondering in the back of her mind whether his sincerity endure for an interaction that lasted longer than half a minute.

“In my debt, huh?”, she rubbed at her chin mockingly ponderous, “I don’t suppose I could ask you to get rid of that pesky Naraku, could I?”

Sesshomaru looked at her; he seemed to realise that she was being facetious and quickly readopted his cold demeanour once again.

Kagome sighed, exaggerating how put out she was “I didn’t think so.”

Sesshomaru frowned slightly and again raised his hand to So’unga, as if debating whether or not to simply rid himself of her and go about his day.

Seeing the movement, Kagome was ready to back-track her way, out of the sticky situation that she had talked herself into, when her mind flashed back to the events of days ago, when she had watched the white-haired siblings fighting.

She played back the moment when Sesshomaru had flicked his sword out of his sheath, allowing the beautifully tempered steel to catch and reflect the late day sunlight. She contrasted the easy confidence – verging on arrogance- she had seen in his stance compared with his loss of composure in the last few minutes.

The precision that she witnessed and the grace and fluidity lit her up with a sudden daring inspiration .

“There is actually one thing you can do.”

The dog demon tilted his face towards her again, as if bracing himself for whatever she might request.

“You could teach me to use a sword.”

Well, whatever he had been expecting it hadn’t been that. Kagome couldn’t help but feel that she was going to regret the decision, but in that moment she couldn’t really bring herself to care.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm writing this mostly for practice - it's been a while since I've written anything and I wanted to get back into the habit of it, considering I have ample time now - thanks COVID-19. As it is, I'm not super invested in the story, but if I get enough of a positive reception, I may be convinced to keep my updates regular. Anyways, thank you for reading this!


	2. The Reluctant Sensei

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kagome makes progress by soliciting some surprising help, and Sesshomaru finds himself beginning to catch the feels.

Sesshomaru stared at the priestess with a muted look of astonishment on his face. He gaped at her for a few seconds, unsure if he’d heard correctly. The little Miko wanted to be his disciple? Something wasn’t adding up. It was entirely possible that this was all some convoluted plan thought up by Inuyasha to stall him from his quest to take the Tessaiga.

As the wheels in his head turned, Jaken, who had never seen his master so dumb-struck before, interjected taking attention away from the demon’s uncharacteristic bewilderment.

“Lord Sesshomaru would never teach the likes of you! Not only are you a paltry human, but you’re also Inuyasha’s wench! You could never be worthy of being taught by the Great Lord Sesshomaru; how dare you insinuate otherwise?”

Sesshomaru tuned Jaken’s diatribe out in favour of glancing at Rin.

Unlike the other member of Sesshomaru’s entourage, Rin watched the proceedings in silence, her gaze flickering curiously back and forth between the Miko and the dog demon. She didn’t seem at all opposed to the idea, if the pleading eyes she was giving him were any indication.

Perhaps Sesshomaru had been remiss in caring for his ward. He tried to be considerate of Rin’s human needs, while remaining as discreet as possible – he could do without the earful from Jaken. Even still. All the care in the world couldn’t give Rin the kind of life she would have had growing up surrounded by humans.

Admittedly there were many parts of the human life that Sesshomaru could not replicate for her; they were often not in his power to give her, to say nothing of the fact that he was a male. As Rin grew, Sesshomaru had been struck by the dawning realisation, that she would need other influences in her life is she were to grow into a well-balanced adult.

Sesshomaru’s decision to let the child travel had been spur of the moment, and he hadn’t quite realised the implications of Rin’s mortal lifespan. Sesshomaru had never been displeased by the longevity that being a full-blooded youkai gave to him, but after the spur of the moment decision, he was beginning to realise that Rin grew much faster than he was accustomed to.

Already she had matured from the timid little urchin that Sesshomaru had first encountered, into a curious youth. She asked more questions than he knew how to answer, her hair was longer, and her customary kimono was becoming dirty and ragged.

Her startlingly feral appearance, was becoming alarming, but there was little that Sesshomaru could do. He trusted very few people, and none of them were humans, so stopping near a village or town to purchase new clothing or for proper bathing was out of the question, and Rin was too little to be able to do these things on her own. Impaired as his judgement maybe regarding human children, he did not think it prudent to introduce Rin to the demon merchants that he knew.

Thus far, he had only been able to procure things for her through battles with weaker demons, hoping on the off chance that they would have some food or a new kimono for the little girl.

Looking between the teenage priestess and Rin only highlighted the difference in the care that they received. The Miko’s hair was long and glossy, falling in a straight cascade over her shoulders.

His gaze dropped to the Miko’s hands. They were pale with slender fingers, and elegant oval shaped nails, which gleamed a healthy pink. Rin’s nails were ragged where she had chewed on them or from her misadventures foraging, and the space under her nails was occupied by dirt and filth.

He knew Rin was happy. She smiled and beamed at the world around her freely and with very little (too little in his opinion) prompting, but although she was happy, she still needed more.

Rin’s opinion was beside the point however. Sesshomaru still had a hard time believing that the Miko was asking for this favour unprompted. The chances that she had neglected to tell Inuyasha about their previous encounter were slim indeed, and Sesshomaru was certain that his younger half-brother had put the young woman up to this, either so that he could have an informant in Sesshomaru’s party or as an act of sabotage.

The frequent, but unintentional meetings between himself and the teenager could not merely be coincidence. One month prior saw that Sesshomaru had only ever seen the girl in conjunction with his brother. They were more or less joined at the hip and Sesshomaru did not wish to make contact with his unpleasantly uncouth half-brother more than he had to.

Perhaps he could use this to his advantage. Inuyasha may have a spy in in his camp, but the reverse was true as well. Sesshomaru was more than sure he could win the weak-willed human over and then he would have his opportunity to sabotage Inuyasha.

However, if he had sent the girl to Sesshomaru under the guise of a pupil, then his brother would have had to have absolute faith that the girl could not be turned from him, and having witnessed interactions between the priestess and Inuyasha before, Sesshomaru was fully aware of the fact that Kagome had feelings for the hanyou, although why she hadn’t simply bedded him already, he wasn’t sure.

At the very least having the strangely-dressed young woman at his side, would mean less trouble for Sesshomaru during battle – not that she posed much of a threat anyways – but it might help to have a neutral party present when he fought Inuyasha, and it would certainly be a heavy hit to his half-brother’s ego to find his lover working with his brother of her own volition. There was nothing that Sesshomaru liked more than making his brother angry.

He was getting ahead of himself, however. First he had to determine whether or not Inuyasha’s spy was really a spy at all.

Well, that was easy enough.

With his decision made, the white haired demon tuned back into the conversation for long enough to hear that Jaken’s lecture was still in full swing.

Irked, Sesshomaru held up his hand to silence the loud-beaked fool.

Jaken folded his arms, looking at his master expectantly, as the Miko did the same - her brow furrowing in anticipation.

“Very well, Miko. I will teach you.”

Jaken nodded emphatically “Yes, exactly my lord. As I was saying…”

His high pitched squawking petered off, and his eye bulged and he stared at his master in horror.

“My lord…what-?”

He was silenced with a look.

Sesshomaru turned back to the Miko.

“I have a stipulation of course, priestess.”

Kagome nodded, and raised her chin waiting.

“Tomorrow you shall undertake a trial to determine whether or not you are worthy of being my student. If you are not…”

Sesshomaru let the sentence hang in the air.

This seemed to be what the priestess had been expecting because she bowed her head in acceptance.

“Thank you, Lord Sesshomaru. You won’t regret this.”

She looked up again and their eyes met. Sesshomaru saw a flash of something, which was quickly obscured, but for a split second he felt himself want to believe that the woman was genuine. If nothing else it would certainly make for an interesting time.

“I will see you tomorrow morning. We will meet in this very spot.” The dog-demon intoned impassively.

The girl nodded.

“Very well. Come Rin. Jaken.”

With an imperious beckoning gesture the demon swept away into the darkness of the clearing, leaving his entourage to scramble on to the back of the much calmer A-Un, and follow him.

When his back was turned, Sesshomaru smirked. He was eager for the next day to arrive. If only because he was curious about how the little Miko would do.

* * *

The next day brought cold and gloomy weather, and Sesshomaru half expected that the Miko wouldn’t show, so he was surprised to arrive at their designated meeting place to find her already there and waiting.

He stumbled to get over his shock, before approaching her briskly, and as noiselessly as he could, and felt a spark of spiteful amusement when she startled predictably as he cleared his throat.

“Are you ready, Miko?”, Sesshomaru inquired, giving the girl a critical once over.

Her chin was tilted determinedly upwards, and if he wasn’t so sure of her status as a saboteur, and Inuyasha’s lover he might have actually admire her fighting spirit. As it was, he simply sniffed and turned his unimpressed gaze to her attire.

He was suitably appalled by her scandalous clothing. The girl was strange certainly – her manner of speech, and the way she held herself spoke of brashness, the likes of which he’d never seen in any other woman.

Strangest of all however, were her clothes. They were not like any in the whole of Japan, in fact, they were veritably indecent! The hem of her clothing barely brushed against the tops of her knees. Sesshomaru was used to humans wearing kimonos and haoris, but never ones like these.

He cleared his throat abruptly when he realised that he’d been staring for several moments.

“Have you nothing else to wear?”

The Miko looked at him confusedly, “Isn’t this fine? I mean it’s my school uniform, and it’s pretty comfy. I can move around in it just fine.”

She misinterpreted Sesshomaru’s odd stare.

Sesshomaru pondered for a moment before conceding, “I suppose mobility is top priority for fighter…”

He nodded then magnanimously. “Very well, Miko. Adopt your fighting stance.”

He waited, but the girl only tilted her head confusedly at him.

He blinked and waited a little longer.

When no movement seemed forthcoming, Sesshomaru became impatient.

“Miko. Your fighting stance. Are you as slow-witted as you look?”

Kagome shook her head, impervious to his snappish remark.

“I don’t know any fighting stances.”

Sesshomaru stared at her blankly.

“You”, he paused dumbfounded “You don’t know any fighting stances.”

The Miko flinched almost imperceptibly, before tensing. She bristled and the her shoulder were raised, as she became defensive.

“That’s what I said”, she snapped.

Sesshomaru scowled, and readied himself to form a diatribe, in response to the Miko’s temper. What a brazen woman! He could suddenly understand why she associated herself with the likes of Inuyasha.

Before he could open his mouth however, the girl seemed to realise her mistake.

“I’m sorry”, she apologised quickly, “I didn’t mean to snap at you.” She pursed her lips and looked Sesshomaru in the eye when she talked, instantly soothing his ruffled feathers. 

She sighed, and seemed to force herself to relax, while Sesshomaru eyed her curiously.

Without a doubt, this girl was odd. She was quick to anger, but equally quick to defer. She didn't know a thing about combat, but jumped head-first into fights anyway. But more than anything, she was shockingly frank.

She addressed him by his title, although it certainly was not a habit borne of respect, based on the way she snapped at him. When she apologised she did so while looking him in the eye, without bowing her head in submission.

He shook off his confusion, and focused instead on correcting the girl’s stance.

She stood stiff as a plank, her eyes flitting over his face warily.

Sesshomaru sighed inwardly, and resigned himself to a long day.

“Spread your legs.”

The Miko stared at him with wide eyes, “What?”

Sesshomaru paused bewildered at the girl’s scarlet cheeks, before his words caught up to him, and he felt the tips of his ears blush.

“I meant for you to stand with your legs further apart.”

“Oh right.”, she cleared her throat nervously, and obeyed.

“Not like that. They’re too wide now. At this rate we’ll be here all week. ”

“It would help if you just told me exactly what you want me to do.”

Sesshomaru sucked air in through his gritted teeth, and mentally counted to ten.

Sighing, he approached the girl, smirking when he noticed her tensing.

He stood next to her, until there was half a stride’s distance between them.

“Plant your feet a hips distance apart, then double that distance.”

He demonstrated, and clumsily, the girl copied.

“Bend your knees. Then balance your weight evenly between both your feet, putting the majority onto the balls of your feet.”

“This feels awkward.”

Sesshomaru stepped out of his stance, and eyed the Miko, frowning at her complaints. It had been so long since he had been taught, that he could barely relate to the girl.

“It will do at first. That’s why we’re going to improve your mobility.”

The raven-haired girl look at him curiously.

“I will direct you, and you will follow my directions maintaining this stance. To move, take a step with your right leg, and follow it with your left. Make sure to lift the heels off of the ground, and slide.”

The Miko nodded.

“Excellent. Let us begin.”

The rest of the afternoon was lost to shouted commands, and stumbling.

By the time the sun was about to go down, the human was panting, drenched in sweat and somewhat haggard.

Sesshomaru meanwhile stood spotless in the middle of the clearing, staring at the Miko unimpressed.

Internally however, he had relaxed since this morning. He had been less than merciful in his commands, and the result were two-fold. The Miko stumbled a little less- her movements had become more fluid in the way that only repetition and exhaustion could do.

But his crowning achievement of the day, was that he was now sure that the girl’s intention was not to be a spy for Inuyasha. No one would have withstood six hours of Sesshomaru’s relentless coaching, without their own motivation.

Feeling smug at his brilliance, and uncharacteristically benevolent, Sesshomaru tossed the girl a water skin which he retrieved from inside his yukata. Smiling slightly as he watched her down more than half of the water in one go. Noticing the Miko beginning to gain some semblance of decorum he quickly schooled his face into an impassive mask.

“I will see you again tomorrow. Same time and place.” Sesshomaru announced, before adding “Keep the water skin. You will need it.”

Before she could construct a reply, he was gone.

* * *

The next day saw a weary and aching Kagome trudging sullenly to their meeting place.

Every twitch of her muscles was a chore, and every step that she took was agony. Her legs felt like lead weights, and her back twinged, every time she turned.

The physical fatigue made her snappish, and she had left the village in a hurry that morning, well aware that it took over half an hour to get to the glade on foot.

By the time she reached the glade, she was panting from exertion, and her fringe was plastered to her forehead with a cold sweat that chilled her in the autumn wind.

Sesshomaru was waiting for her when she arrived. His arms were crossed, and he looked as indifferent as ever.

He inspected her as she stood before him, frowning slightly, and tilting his head to the side as if perplexed.

Kagome tried not to topple over as he took in her appearance.

“It would seem some warm ups and stretches are in order.”

Kagome glanced at him in surprise. She was fully aware that Sesshomaru did not like her, and that his agreement to aid her was probably a result of his own hidden agenda, so for him to offer help of his own accord and with her comfort in mind was a surprise - he was showing her a genuine kindness.

Abruptly she realised that she was gaping at the dog demon and snapped her mouth shut quickly, shaking off her stupor. Sesshomaru on the other hand looked down at his feet briefly as if embarrassed, feeling her stare on him, but stuck his chin out haughtily when she looked away.

He cleared his throat, abashed, and then showed her how to stretch her calves.

“You should feel a burn in the back of your legs.”, he intoned.

Kagome nodded, biting her bottom lip in an effort to manage the discomfort she felt. Still she didn’t say anything, for fear that if she complained Sesshomaru would decide that she was simply not worth the effort, besides which – she was fairly sure that he wouldn’t care.

She was proven mistaken again, when Sesshomaru took in the look on her face, and came closer. He knelt down absently, and grasped the back of her right calf, and shifting her weight further into her heel- the painful burning sensation her leg abated slightly to a more manageable prickling.

Sesshomaru nodded approvingly and stepped back, noticing the surprised look on her face. His scowled as he realised the extent of the unthinking-touch, and coughed , furrowing his brows to seem irritated.

“Honestly, Miko – if you have such reactions to my assistance –“

Kagome cut him off hurriedly, “No objections! I was just surprised is all! I mean – I plainly don’t know what I’m doing, but you do, so I’m grateful for your help, Sesshomaru-sama.”

She finished by inclining her head to him respectfully, but her skin was still tingling with warmth from where had touched her.

Sesshomaru huffed, and carried on, briskly barking out drills for her to get her accustomed to moving around, and the different stances.

Privately, Kagome was reminded of the time when Sota had joined his primary school kendo club. The stances weren’t dissimilar, but Sesshomaru’s teachings had a fluidity that the school instructor lacked, and the stances differed slightly to what she had seen. She supposed that time had changed a lot – and formalities concerning combat were no exemption.

After over an hour of relentless drills, Kagome stopped for a rest. Sesshomaru sat away to one side of the glade, under the shelter of a large tree, resting his head against the trunk, and gazing with hooded eyes towards the sky above his head, seemingly lost in thought.

Kagome used the opportunity to take the sight of him in. It was truly strange to see him calm when she was so accustomed to seeing physical tells of his fury – when he was around Inuyasha, his eye twitched, and his fangs peeked over the full curve of his bottom lip. His brow would arch, and the looks he gave were positively withering. Even the silky long strands of his hair seemed to adopt his anger, thrashing agitatedly in the breeze.

Now however, his golden eyes seemed to glow softly, and the parted ink lips and long pale lashes, partially obscuring the amber gaze, seemed gentle and something of an ethereal sight, complementing his grace, and his stoic personality, in a way that drew startling contrast to Inuyasha’s chaotic, aggressive vivacity.

She had always liked that part of Inuyasha however. She admired how brash he was, and how he was never afraid to express how he felt in the most combative way. A small and pathetic part of her said that it was what would make them such a great couple – her collected and placid attitude, countered his perfectly.

A larger part of herself, reminded her that it was unhealthy, and not her responsibility to mitigate his flaws, and she dismissed the thoughts resignedly.

Kagome gulped down the contents of her water skin, and hesitant to disrupt his image of calm, waited for Sesshomaru’s attention to fall to her.

When he did lower his piercing stare, she murmured a quiet “Sesshomaru-sama.”

Sesshomaru’s face snapped towards her immediately, and she felt strangely crestfallen, for having chased away the elegant lethargy on his face, as if she had committed a terrible sin.

When his full attention had settled on her, she continued “When will I get to progress to actually using a sword?”

Sesshomaru opened his mouth to reply, but something in Kagome urged her to begin a confrontation, as if now that the peace had been defiled, her frustrations ought to be voiced.

“It feels like you’re just humouring me. I know you don’t trust me, and I know that you’ve only taught me basic groundwork. If you didn’t want to help me, you could have just said so.”

She rushed in the space of a single breath.

Sesshomaru looked like he didn’t know whether to be annoyed or surprised at her presumption in doubting his methods.

He sighed harshly, and his response was steely.

“We will progress to weapons when you’re ready. Having confidence in your groundwork is the priority at the moment. Many a warrior was felled because they were too slow on their feet. Besides which, you still have some time to go until you are worthy of holding and receiving your own weapon. When we do start with using weapons, you will be given a bokken.”

Seeing her blank look, he added, “A wooden sword. They may not be lethal, but they can still bruise you or in the worst case fracture a bone.”

“You’re lucky you have This Sesshomaru for a teacher, you know – my own instructor would have refused to teach you anything further on account of your lack of patience. Patience is a part of learning the way of the sword.”

The demon lord muttered, laying his head back against the trunk of the tree he sat under.

Kagome tilted her head, inquisitively, and wondered how much she could get away with asking him, while he was in such a relaxed state.

“Your teacher?”

Sesshomaru stiffened and turned so she was faced with the tense muscles in his back.

“My father.” He answered shortly. His hair fell over his forehead, obscuring his face from view, and Kagome felt an anticipatory knot twist itself into the pit of her stomach.

Sesshomaru stood abruptly then, his face as impassive as ever. All at once, the stilted camaraderie of the early afternoon was gone, and outside of instructing her, Sesshomaru didn’t say another word to her for the rest of the afternoon.

* * *

By the time that Kagome was finally allowed to use a bokken, the worst of autumn had arrived, the earlier crisp breezes giving way to a bitingly cold wind.

At this point, she and Sesshomaru had become quite proficient in their arrangement. She would tell Inuyasha that she would be home for the week, spending a few days with her family, and then return a few days earlier than her travelling party expected and be spirited away by A-Un, who would retrieve and drop her back to the Bone-Eater’s well, in time to continue her search for the Shikon No Tama shards – although she had initially feared that their progress would be impeded by the frequency of her trips “home”, her stamina had improved considerably since starting lessons with Sesshomaru, and she found herself easily able to keep pace with Miroku – the slowest member of their group - on their journeys, so she no longer had to rely on Inuyasha to carry her on his back.

She found that she was also able to hold her own in a fight – not in terms of the use of her bow, but instead she could be trusted to dodge, and duck when she had to. The new evasive skills made her less of a liability in fights, and overall the group suffered fewer injuries as a result.

In hindsight, her newfound competence was a good sign of her progress, and capacity for improvement, although she noticed that Sango shot her curious glances every now and then. When their eyes met however, the older girl would just smile and ask how her family was.

The unsteady rapport she had built with her reluctant Sensei was also evidence of the progress she’d been making. Still she was surprised when A-Un landed in Sesshomaru’s campsite, and the dog demon came out to greet her immediately, holding something long and heavy looking wrapped in cloth.

When he handed it to her, she waited for his nod, before she eagerly unwrapped the wooden sword, holding it out in front of her and gazing at it with awe.

It was heavier than she’d first thought, and she wondered briefly if her agility would take a turn for the worse because of it. Her thoughts erupted into a nervous cacophony, and she looked towards Sesshomaru to tell him that he was mistaken, and that she didn’t feel ready to take the next step in her training, but when their eyes met, and she opened her mouth, she closed it again just as quickly.

There was a fierce glint in Sesshomaru’s eyes, and if she hadn’t known him better she would have thought it was pride. The corner of his mouth was quirked ever so slightly upwards, and with a shock, Kagome realised, that the yokai was genuinely pleased with her.

All at once her resolve strengthened. She would trust Sesshomaru – both because of her nature and because he had earned her trust with the effort he’d gone to, to help her – and operate based on his assumption that she was ready. She gave a firm nod unintentionally, without looking up, and she missed the way that his eyes softened.

Kagome inspected the bokken. Looking closer she could tell that it wasn’t a new instrument. There were notches and scratch marks on the blade where it had connected with another weapon. The handle was smooth, and the lacquer was worn in places, which she assumed was from it having been held tightly and frequently by someone else.

Whatever the case, the sword seemed well loved, and Kagome instantly felt attached to the weapon.

“Take good care of that, Miko”, Kagome looked up at her teacher, “It was mine once.” He responded to her question glance.

Kagome’s eyes widened. The fact that Sesshomaru was giving her the sword, when it had become evident to her over the course of the last month that he had very strong feelings regarding his own training moved her.

She pursed her lips, and nodded at him grimly, unsure of what she could say that would convey her gratitude, but Sesshomaru backed away awkwardly, straightening his fur. He cleared his throat in his usual manner, and settled into his _Jodan no Kamae_ stance to show her how to wield the sword.

Kagome couldn’t help herself, she felt a rush of affection for her reluctant teacher and she beamed unrestrainedly at the demon, despite their deeper reservations about each other.

She saw him stiffen, and watched as his face became stony. He stared at her with widened eyes. She saw that he looked taken aback before the wind picked up and his hair blew forward to cover his face. 

They stayed like that for a moment, neither knowing how to proceed, until eventually Sesshomaru inclined his head stiffly in acceptance of her thanks before continuing with their lesson.

* * *

When the few hours were up, Kagome was drenched in sweat, but still glowed with happiness. Ever so carefully, she rewrapped the bokken and laid in tenderly beside her belongings.

When Sesshomaru gave her directions, she scampered towards the nearby stream to wash herself. Rin joined her, and she was grateful for the company. After working with the taciturn demon lord for the better part of the day –she was forced to analyse every move he made because he gave away so little- and she could feel a headache blossoming at her temples. 

Rin was a refreshing companion, she was thrilled at Kagome’s presence in their campsite, and seized the opportunity that was presented to her by having another human female around. Kagome was also quickly growing fond of the scrappy little girl, and the pain she felt at being away from her own family abated slightly.

When they arrived at the banks, she peeled off her sweaty clothes, and slid into the water with a relieved sigh. Stretching languidly she revealed in the cool refreshing water relaxing her abused muscles for the first time that day.

A little ways away Rin splashed around cheerfully, ducking under the water and back up with a giggle. She paused to look at Kagome, and then grinned.

“Kagome-nee, your muscles are bigger!”

Kagome started, and looked down self-consciously. It was true, that her arms and legs seemed more defined, and her skin had taken on a more tan appearance, but whatever pride she felt in her achievement was dwarfed by how far she still had to go until she was on par with her teammates, and the pudgy skin that circled her midsection.

Almost as if she knew the turn that Kagome’s thoughts had taken, Rin beamed at her, and mimed flexing her stick-thin arms.

“You have bigger muscles than me!”

Kagome nodded, faintly amused, but too tired to summon the energy to respond.

“And you have more muscles than Jaken-sama,” the little girl added, “if you keep working hard, soon you’ll have muscles like A-Un.”

Kagome snorted and grinned cheered by her light-hearted outlook and innocence.

Shortly afterwards, Kagome was dressed, and so was Rin, although the younger girl was shivering in the frigid night wind.

Feeling sorry for the girl, and not wanting to incur Sesshomaru’s wrath by not looking after his ward, she flung open her rucksack, and bundled Rin into one of her jumpers, and lifted the girl into her arms.

Rin giggled and swung her legs, wrapping her arms securely around Kagome’s neck, as they made their way back to the campsite, with Kagome dodging tree roots in the dark.

Sesshomaru was settled near the a crackling fire, when they arrived, his eyes closed, although his shallow breathing proved that he was in fact awake. He opened an eye as they approached, and his face relaxed as he took in the sight of Rin. Deftly, he shuffled over to make room for the two of them by the fire.

A little ways away, Jaken snoozed, with his tiny body braced against A-Un's heaving flank. The beast had his head lowed on top of his fore-legs, and was transfixed, staring at the flickering flames with hooded eyes.

Sitting gingerly next to the Dog demon, Kagome lowered a lethargic Rin into the space between them, where she leaned against Kagome’s shoulder.

Sesshomaru’s tiny smile slid off his face as a sudden chilly breeze blew through the grove. He stood quickly and backed away from the two humans. Kagome watched first with confusion and then with awe, as his form grew rapidly, and he took on the appearance of the massive white dog that she had watched Inuyasha battle so often.

Sesshomaru padded over, and lowered his belly to the ground, tucking his paws underneath him, and looking at Rin. Eagerly, the little girl stood, and ran forward coming to a stop near Sesshomaru’s shoulder, curling up next to him and burying her left side into his soft white fur.

Kagome watched with a smile, making eye contact with the Demon Lord without meaning to. In the firelight, his blood-red eyes seemed to shine, and he tilted his head at her in an invitation to join Rin by his side.

Kagome beamed, and stole closer to him until she could feel the heat that emanated from his massive body. She refrained from actually touching him, feeling slightly awkward, as if she was invading a private moment. 

A part of her wondered if perhaps a motivating factor for his sudden transformation had been because he didn’t want to talk to her further, but she dismissed it. Sesshomaru was more than capable of ignoring her in his human form.

She let out a sigh and relaxed marginally against him, looking at him out of her peripherals to see if he would object. When he didn’t she lowered herself further until she was slouched against him, and surrounded by warm thick fur. The angle gave her a view of the clear starry sky above her, and she gazed into it tiredly.

* * *

Sesshomaru turned to her a while later, noticing the quiet and wondering if the Miko had dropped off to sleep, but when his eyes fell upon her she was gazing up at the sky above her.

He could feel where she was nestled against him, and knew that she was relaxed. It pleased him that he’d managed to gain her trust so easily. It seemed that the quickest way to her heart was truly through sentimentality. He knew that Rin needed affection – it was a flaw that most of her species seemed to share, and to know that the same tactic worked on this girl was gratifying, although he had to wonder if the fact that she sought attention elsewhere meant that his brother was not doing enough for the girl.

The revelation irked him somewhat, although he couldn’t put his finger on why.

Looking at her more closely, it was strange to see how quiet and docile she was, in comparison to her usual boisterous nature. Surprisingly her disturbingly animated temperament had endeared her to Rin, and with enough practice Sesshomaru found himself becoming immune.

Against all odds, the girl had earned his favour for the way that she treated and cared for his ward, and Sesshomaru had become used to her presence in his camp, although she was still frighteningly forward with her speech and actions. A part of him felt bad for manipulating her emotions when she so plainly wore them on her sleeve. Still her use as an informant outweighed any juvenile feelings.

After the untoward display of emotion in the day, Sesshomaru was hesitant to encourage further closeness between them, partially because he didn’t like the guilt that came with it and partially because he was uncomfortable with such affection, but he’d pitied her when she’d shivered, and at the very least he thought he should keep her warm – especially in light of all the time he had spent training the girl. It would be a waste if she died of exposure, with her weak human composition.

She was just beginning to show some promise as well. Sesshomaru was curious enough about her potential, that he could stand her company, but it was still strange that he didn’t find her human presence to be as much of a chore as he’d been expecting.

He was shaken from his thoughts, when their subject turned to him, looking him in the eye almost brazenly, as if she was looking through him, and knew what he was thinking. It made him want to recoil from her, and snap. He was calmed when she smiled seconds later, and turned back to the stars.

“My mom used to tell me stories about the stars.”

Sesshomaru huffed slightly to acknowledge that he was listening.

“Would you…like to hear them?”

He grunted.

“I’m gonna take that as a yes.”

She was looking at him again, amusedly.

“Alrighty, then…”

Sesshomaru laid his head on top of his paws, and was soothed to sleep by the mellow tones of the Miko’s voice, which seemed strangely right in the quiet of the campsite.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is super late! I'm so sorry - life happened! In any case, I finally pulled it together thanks to the support and reminders from my very best friend on the whole wide world: Daniel (I'm dedicating this chapter to you and all the people who left me comments). Your feedback keeps me going guys, I may be tempted to post more often if y'all leave me some ;) If anyone was wondering, the soundtrack for this chapter was the album The Horror and the Wild by The Amazing Devil - they're amazing please check them out if you haven't already!


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